Most parents believe that they fail their child unless they teach
him moral values, unless they continually point out what is
right and what is wrong. Practically every mother and father
consider that, apart from taking care of the physical needs of
their child, the inculcation of moral values is their chief duty,
and that without such instruction the child would grow up to
be a savage, uncontrolled in behavior, and with scant considera-
tion for others. This belief springs to a large extent from the
fact that most people in our culture accept, at least passively,
the dictum that man is a sinner by birth, that he is naturally
bad, and that unless he is trained to be good he will be rapa-
cious, cruel, and even homicidal.

The Christian Church states this belief openly, "We are mis-
erable sinners." The bishop and the schoolmaster believe, there-
fore, that the child must be led to the light. It does not matter
whether the light is the light of the Cross or the light of Ethi-
cal Culture. In either case, the purpose is the same--to "uplift."

Since both church and school agree that the child is born in
sin, we cannot expect mothers and fathers to disagree with
these great authorities. The church says, "If you sin, you shall
be punished hereafter." The parent takes his cue from this and
says, "If you do that again, I shall punish you now." Both
strive to elevate by imposing fear.

The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom." It is much more often the beginning of psychic dis-
order. For to invest a child with fear in any form is harmful.

Many a time a parent has said to me, "I do not understand
why my boy has gone bad. I have punished him severely, and

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